Mist

Photo taken by Erica, Jean's daughter, with her digital camera at our camp last October. Here is its story.

Early morning as I awoke, I noticed the misty fog in the valley. I had been watching for this rare occurrence for the last couple of years, hoping to capture it on film, saying to myself, I am going to capture that picture. Actually, I had seen the mist about 15 other times before during my career.
I always have appreciated it. You just have to be there at the exact time, and the phenomenon does not last long. I scampered downstairs like a kid,
and discovered I had no film.

I refused to accept defeat. I knew Erica had her digital camera. But she was sound asleep, except that maybe I had now awoken her. She’s like sleeping beauty, yet grumpy. Sweetly I called to her and surprisingly she quickly arose to see all the commotion. Maybe she thought she was getting my famous pancakes.

The mist changed her mood. Actually the Dead River is partly named after this type of fog. From the Huron Mt. Range you can sometimes see whiffs of steam, or mist, lifting out of the valleys at certain times. The wind will soon blow this cloud-like thing off, and gone. I don’t normally see large patches of this steam, as in this photo.

So, Sleeping Beauty is there. We realize that we cannot get a good picture out directly from the cabin. Or maybe Erica took some but deleted them form her point of view.

Anyway, my wife Jean and I convinced her to go with us for a five-minute walk for a better view of the valley. And there it was. And then she held the images in her camera in limbo for months. Then she emailed them to Jean, who forgot about them, only to find them by chance at just the right moment.
The location of this picture is mostly of the 109th political District, whereas we are standing in the 110th. So, this mist-filled haunting portrait straddles the line between the two districts. This can represent togetherness, or community unity of which the UP must be, standing together as a unit which the picture IS.

Also, photography has been an interest of mine. It is part of me. It is marketing. It demonstrates the beauty of the UP. It is tourism. Tourists come here for scenic beauty--it is their number one reason for visiting. I suppose I could post an orange river evocative of sulfide mining, but that is not me and not scenic. That is not how I want to build my campaign.